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anunderwaterguy

Posted 04 July 2011 - 01:05 PM

anunderwaterguy

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Djokovic is definitely the new king of tennis. It shows you how fast things change in the sport. Even 6 months ago the idea that Djokovic would dominate like this would have seemed far fetched (as short ago as last year's US Open it seemed like it was Nadal who was going to be the dominant force going forward). In another 6 months who knows where we'll be - maybe something that seems far fetched now will be a reality.

Whatever happens, I think this is a great time for men's tennis: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray, Del Potro coming back, young players like Tomic, Raonic and Dimitrov on the rise...

Sancho Panza

Posted 05 July 2011 - 12:38 AM

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When Nadal took Federer out at the French and Wimbledon in 2008, I thought he'd be the dominanant force going forward, but didn't know for how long. Now I know. If Djokovic is in Nadal's head it's because he's outplaying Nadal. He speaks too as well as he plays, like a champion.

There's a similar surge of young talent in women's tennis. Kvitova, Azarenka, Lisicki, Goerges, Pavlyuchenkova, Paszek, and Wickmayer to name a few all hit big with the fearless attitude - and all tower over another one, Cilbulkova, who barefooted is max 5 foot 3 inches above the ground! Here she is standing tall as she can after being pounded 6-1 6-1 in the quarters. Sharapova is a beauty, but on the court the little one is my heart-throb.

Edited by Sancho Panza, 05 July 2011 - 02:38 AM.

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There are some people so addicted to exaggeration that they can't tell the truth without lying. - Josh Billings

anunderwaterguy

Posted 01 September 2011 - 03:31 PM

anunderwaterguy

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Tips for the US Open?

I actually managed to watch some of the practice sessions and in terms of pure ball striking the two who stood out for me were Djokovic and Murray. Right, you don't win tournaments on the practice courts, but it does tell you something about where the top players' games are at right now. Djokovic has been hitting the ball superbly all year, but I watch Murray quite a lot and he was hitting the ball better than usual. In particular, the forehand down the line (usually a weakness for him) was looking extremely good, and that carried over into his first match yesterday.

However, there isn't even the remotest chance that I'd think about ruling out Nadal. All the talk is about him struggling for form, but it's easy to forget that we've had this talk before in the early stages of slams. I think Nadal is a master at peaking at the right time and I don't expect anything different this time round. Not a bold prediction, but the winner will come from those three in my opinion.

Sancho Panza

Posted 26 January 2012 - 09:20 AM

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Hi Lonnie. They're playing the two-week long Australian Open in Melbourne. Nadal just entered the finals with a 6:7 6:2 7:6 6:4 victory over Federer. You can see the highlights of that day 11 night session match here.

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There are some people so addicted to exaggeration that they can't tell the truth without lying. - Josh Billings

Lonnie

Posted 26 January 2012 - 11:10 AM

Interests:Wine, Beer, Wine, Whiskey, and Wine.. Did I say Wine? Oh, baseball! Gotta have some baseball! And Football!!! Wow, where did I put my glass of wine?

Hi Lonnie. They're playing the two-week long Australian Open in Melbourne. Nadal just entered the finals with a 6:7 6:2 7:6 6:4 victory over Federer. You can see the highlights of that day 11 night session match here.

Ah! I should have known that it was being played down under. Thanks for the link!

anunderwaterguy

Posted 26 January 2012 - 03:00 PM

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I'd like it a lot if Murray would win, but if I had to put money down, it'd be Djokovic.

Same here. Would love to see Murray pull it off, but I think Djokovic will take it in the end. I will say that I don't think Murray will let the situation get to him the way he did in the final last year. I also think it'll be a fun match to watch, so I'm looking forward to it.

anunderwaterguy

Posted 27 January 2012 - 10:51 AM

anunderwaterguy

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Even though he lost, that was much better from Murray. He hasn't gone out with a whimper this time, he's gone out playing some of his best tennis and it was extremely close in the end. This time last year it looked like there was a massive gulf in class between Djokovic and Murray, but not any more on the evidence of that match.

The one tough thing about the Australian Open, though, is that it's a long time to wait for the next slam. It's something Murray's spoken about before - that after losing in Australia he finds it hard to motivate himself until the claycourt season. His results between Australia and the start of the claycourt season have been dreadful in the last couple of years. I hope he doesn't let it affect him again this year.